


In a Sort of Runic Rhyme

by Irrelevancy



Series: And Time Will Have His Fancy [2]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Canon Related, Friendship/Love, Gen, M/M, Philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 14:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3450974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irrelevancy/pseuds/Irrelevancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"Remember how on Greed Island, after Tsezguerra-san showed us his nen jump, and you beat me, and you wouldn’t let us play again because we were in a rush?” At Killua’s nod, Gon smiled widely and spread his arms to the air. “Like that. If I could have time, I would use it all on moments like that, so we can do whatever we want, for as long as we want, whenever we want to.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a Sort of Runic Rhyme

Once, they found a town with a broken sky.  _The goddess comes through there_ , the townspeople explained, pointing at the rip of dark blue between some clouds, shaped like watercolor splashes.  _If you pray to her, she’ll give you the most precious thing in the world._

"And what’s that?" Gon asked, all nonjudgmental curiosity.

_Time._

Killua, being Killua, had already spotted the nen trail dripping from the rip. The two, after finishing their sandwiches from a local café, began to follow the trail. It led them on a path out of the town, through scrublands and dusty plateaus. Gon showed Killua how to find jackrabbits’ nests. Killua pointed out all the poisonous plants, venomous animals, and biotoxins in the ecosystem.

"What do you suppose the townsfolk meant by  _Time_?” Gon asked, absently mouthing at a split succulent. Killua held the other half, squeezing it tightly in his fist.

"Dunno," Killua answered. "Could be something boring like eternal youth."

"What?" Gon exclaimed, "you think that’s boring?"

"Well duh." Holding the plant above his head, Killua squeezed it and caught the drips of water on his tongue. "I mean, it’d be nice to not become decrepit, but shifting physicality is also good. Would you want to have to jump just to reach a high shelf for the rest of your life?"

"Huh. I guess not." Gon fell to a contemplative silence, and Killua began to count the number of clouds that disappeared into the rip in the sky. He was at seventeen when Gon spoke again. "I guess, if I wanted  _time_ , I would want to be able to do whatever I want to do for as long as I want.”

"…What?" Killua hid a grin at Gon’s frustrated explanation face. "I don’t get what you mean."

Another two clouds glided into the rip and didn’t come out the other end before Gon smacked a triumphant fist to his palm.

"Remember how on Greed Island, after Tsezguerra-san showed us his nen jump, and you beat me, and you wouldn’t let us play again because we were in a rush?” At Killua’s nod, Gon smiled widely and spread his arms to the air. “Like that. If I could have time, I would use it all on moments like that, so we can do whatever we want, for as long as we want, whenever we want to.”

Killua burst out laughing. The sand beneath their shoes gave way to dirt and gravel.

"That’s kind of a selfish ability to have, don’t you think?" he said, absently kicking at a toxic weed underfoot.

"So what?" Gon asked with a confused pout. "Our normal powers are selfish, why would this be any different?"

"I guess it wouldn’t be," Killua agreed. "You’re right. If I had time powers, it certainly wouldn’t be selfless like all the movies make them out to be."

"What would you do with time powers, Killua?"

"Um…"

A small cottage came into sight, faintly aglow with nen. It sat right underneath the rip in the sky. A cloud drifted into the rip, and a cloud of water misted down over the cottage. The small farming plot in front of the cottage suddenly swelled with greens, as crops aged in an instant under the rainfall.

"Oooh," Killua hummed, "I get it—"

“ _Hang on don’t explain it to me_ ,” Gon quickly interrupted. “Let me. Uh, so the plants are obviously getting time, they’re getting older. But the rain is making them older, uh…”

Here, Gon none-too-subtly flashed Killua his puppy eyes, and Killua almost had the willpower to ignore it. Instead, he sighed.

"Here’s a hint," he said. "It wasn’t rain."

"It wasn’t—  _Ooh_!” Gon hopped up and down in excitement. “It was water vapor! So the cloud that went into the rip got  _younger_ , and the plants got  _older_.”

"The  _time_  needs to be balanced,” Killua concluded. “There. You’ve figured it out.”

Gon hopped in the air, whooping and pumping his fists. Killua threw his head back and laughed, yes, because his friend was so happy, but also because Gon was bound to realize soon—

"So we solved the mystery." Gon’s cheers became confused, then a bit more diluted. "Wait a second, we solved the mystery. Now what?"

"Now," Killua snickered, pivoting on his heel, "now we go straight back. There’s no one in that house. The goddess is out running errands I guess. C’mon, let’s go."

"Hang on," Gon suddenly announced, slapping a hand on Killua’s shoulder and dragging him to a halt. "You never said what you would do with time."

"C’mon you idiot," Killua said, cringing, "it doesn’t really matter now—"

"But I wanna know—"

"—not a mystery, you dumbass—"

"—no fair,  _you’re_  the stupid one—”

"— _fine_.” In an act of petty anger, Killua stuck a foot out and tripped Gon into the grass. Gon’s fingers locked around Killua’s ankles before he fell, bringing them both down into a tangle of limbs. They tumbled down the side of the hill like that, rolling to a stop amidst already-withering cabbages and already-growing seeds. “I’ll tell you.”

Gon poked his head up in excitement, a long worm dangling from a clump of dirt above his ear. Laughing, Killua snatched it up and tossed it into the mess of Gon’s hair.

"I’d stretch time, stretch out moments like this," Killua described, rubbing his muddy fingers over Gon’s cheeks and sputtering when Gon retaliated. "Keep them going forever."

"So it’s like my idea," Gon said, kicking a clump of mud into Killua’s shoe. Killua shoved a particularly wet clump down the back of Gon’s shirt.

"Nuh uh," Killua denied, "it’s different."

"Prove it."

“ _You_ —” Killua hopped to his feet and pointed a finger at Gon, for clarification. “—see, you would want everything else to stop so we can keep messing around.”

"Yup," Gon agreed happily. "The sun wouldn’t set so we wouldn’t have to get back before all the inns are booked up, and it wouldn’t be too late to go to a bathhouse. We could just play here for as long as we want."

"And  _my_  power,” Killua continued, “I would make sure every moment of playing around we get is stretched to its maximum, the optimum amount of time. You know how you can tell a joke and go way to overboard? Well, that wouldn’t happen. We wouldn’t ever have to worry about things stop becoming fun, everything would be perfectly timed, every happiness perfectly controlled so we can have the most of it before it inevitably ends.”

"…Oh."

The sun rode low on the sky now, and the clouds were getting bigger. A particularly large shower of water vapor fell to the field, and the mud on Killua and Gon’s clothes dried and crumpled to dirt, leaving dark patches and stains. Killua offered a hand, and pulled Gon up. Together, the two trekked back up the hill and headed back towards the town.

"But," Gon said, nudging Killua with his elbow and smiling tentatively, "we wouldn’t have to worry about things becoming not fun. Not when we’re together."

"I—" Caught off-guard, Killua looked away, scratching the back of his head. "I mean— I guess you’re right. I just—"

"You’re just planning ahead, like you always do." Looping his arm through Killua’s, Gon pulled them closer together, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, bumping along down the road. They’re back on sand now. "You’re really smart, Killua. I like you."

"…And I like you too." Gon beamed at his friend’s rare show of affection, and Killua shoved him lightly, hoping the sunset was red enough to hide his blush. "You just keep trying to bend the universe to your will. If it’s going to bend for anybody, I guess, you’re the best I know."


End file.
